Consternation
by Besina
Summary: John and Sherlock wonder if there might be anything in all this wild speculation.


Consternation  
>Written by Besina, January 2012<p>

Rated T  
>Characters: Sherlock, John<br>friendship, possible slash, maybe

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Sherlock and John and mean no copyright infringement by bringing them out to play, nor do I make any money by writing this fanfic.

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><p>"John?" came the query from the living room.<p>

"Yes, Sherlock?"

"Do you ever wonder why people assume we're together, or that entire communities set up around your blog entries seem to _want_ us to be?"

John peered around the kitchen corner, still stirring his tea.

"Not really, no."

"Never?" Sherlock hitched an eyebrow. Yeah, okay, he was as good as caught.

"Well, once in a while, okay, it's made me wonder; but it's not something I dedicate a large amount of time to thinking about."

"What if they're on to something?" mused the velvet tones of his flat-mate. "Perhaps we're too close to see it."

Silence pervaded the flat for minutes.

John sipped his tea and thought. Obviously Sherlock had already spent some time musing over this, but he hadn't. What if….? No. They were flat-mates, friends, partners-solving-crime. _However_…

_No._

But he could see their point, of course, it _did_ almost seem natural to extend that friendship beyond those simple boundaries. Between the two of them, they really were a self-sufficient unit...

Perhaps, he decided. _Perhaps_. _Not likely, mind you_, but perhaps; and this one simple word he repeated to Sherlock.

"But given that we _are_ 'single men of a certain age' ", John added, his head bobbing from side to side to accentuate each word of the phrase, "and of course, sharing a flat, there's bound to be speculation."

"Speculation, yes. But you'd think after a while the novelty of such speculation would wear off. Whereas, concerning the two of us, the interest seems only to have multiplied." Sherlock stood up slowly from the couch, putting his paper down, and walked toward the kitchen.

He reached the doorway and stood only inches from John, who suddenly felt rather nervous.

"Would you care to indulge me in an experiment, John?" Sherlock asked, his eyes fixed on John's face.

John swallowed hard; his throat gone dry, and nervously put down his teacup. The word echoed around his mind… _perhaps, perhaps_… until suddenly he felt rather rash. Why the hell not? He wondered, stubbornly refusing to feel nervous any longer.

John looked up at Sherlock, returning his gaze. "Sure. Why not?"

"Indeed." Sherlock looked slightly impressed with him; this was unfamiliar territory, and certainly not a comfortable situation to be put in. John basked in the approval for a moment. "Thank you, John."

Sherlock moved a tiny bit more forward, unintentionally backing John into the table, reaching down, placing his hand tenderly alongside John's face. They stood like that for a moment, eyes focused on one another, then Sherlock bent down to kiss him, eyes closing as they neared. Their lips met in a chaste kiss, but in order for it to be counted as a successful experiment, they both knew they needed to cast all inhibitions to the wind.

John forced himself to relax – _just go with it_, he thought.

His kiss softened, as did Sherlock's. His arms slithered up around Sherlock's neck as Sherlock's own wrapped around John's waist. They allowed themselves to melt into it for a minute. Then Sherlock's eyes snapped open.

They both pulled back from the kiss, looking directly at each other for a few moments, trying to read one another.

"No?" inquired Sherlock

"No." stated John flatly, though his mind stumbled over the phrase: _why not?_

"Nor I. Hmm." Sherlock seemed to be wondering the same thing. "Well, then," he said, removing his hands from John's hips. We seem to have our result."

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment.

"Out for Chinese then?" suggested John.

"God, yes." breathed Sherlock.

And suddenly, almost as quickly as things had gotten odd, as they gathered and donned their coats to set out for the night, life seemed to snap back to normal at 221B.

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

A/N : I'm not at all adverse to slash, especially Sherlock/John slash, but I thought it would be funny to see what happened if they didn't spark.

Reviews please! I'm still new to this and any feedback is wonderful!


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